Games for Health conference begins this week

The eighth annual Games for Health conference will take place in Boston this week, featuring speakers from Microsoft, TEDMED, and the White House office of Science and Technology Policy.

The event, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio, brings together game developers, researchers, and medical professionals all over the world to explore the exciting new frontiers of promoting and improving health through the new medium of games.

The conference will open on the 12th, with sessions starting the following day.

Constance Steinkuehler Squire, senior policy analyst for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will give a talk on how games can address a variety of national issues in health, healthcare, and biotechnology.

Bill Crounse, Microsoft’s senior director of worldwide health, will explore how his company and its partners are merging their information and game technologies to create global solutions for personal and professional health care.

Of special interest is a demonstration by students at Boston’s Kennedy Middle-School of an adaptation of Dance Dance Revolution for use in classrooms. The technology allows for up to 48 simultaneous users, all of whom can be monitored individually for caloric burn rate, steps taken, and body mass index.

Those interested in attending the conference can find more information at the event website